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Wow! What a statement, “out of my mind”. There was a time when that was all I wanted to be; but it usually involved engaging the help of some really good drugs or a rather cheeky red. These days being out of my mind has a whole new meaning. I’ll rewind a bit first.

I remember when my true self was in the early stages of emerging. I was quite involved with Spiritualism, and meditations were wonderous experiences with crystals, colours, angels, animals and spirit guides etc. I remember thinking that I had really arrived somewhere; not realising that the experiences I was having, although very pleasant, were of the mind. The universe soon blew away any delusions of grandeur that I had about having “arrived”. I believe it’s fashionable to refer to these kind of meditations as “visualisations” these days.

It was some years before I was to learn the true meaning of being out of my mind. But eventually, Zen found me, introduced me to a state of “no-mind”, and took me in a whole new direction. These days I very rarely meditate in the traditional sense, but quite often experience myself being nothing more than an observer as the shenanigans of life play out before my eyes.

However, I also find myself as confused as ever, as the universe (or whatever you want to call it) constantly highlights all the things that are still holding me back. I am incessantly reminded of all my personal prejudices (as much as I try to deny them); they are constantly there, glaring at me, almost tormenting me and daring me to give them up. They say that awareness, where there once wasn’t any, is half the battle. But the universe is truly relentless in its efforts to completely send me out of my mind.

I recently found a cyber-friend of mine on another well-known social media site (you know who you are!), and on viewing her page, I came across the most wonderful post. I liked it so much, and it provoked so much thought within me, that I wanted to share it with you here. I am not quoting word for word, but I think you will get the gist; it concerns peeling potatoes; or as I like to call them, “spuds”. It goes something like this..

Religion based spirituality – Peeling potatoes, thinking about God.

Zen spirituality – Peeling potatoes.

At first glance you would think that the religious person is a goody-two-shoes; thinking about God whilst engaged in a fairly mundane task. However, unless you have an understanding of Zen and are able to look deeper into what is being said, there is a good chance that this is the only conclusion you will draw.

In the first example, the person’s mind is active; and is therefore giving life to the non-existent ego, or false self.

In the second example, the person is simply Being and is therefore at one with “All That Is”.

It has occurred to me that Zen is the direct experience of our own Divinity.

I am prompted to write this post by the current plight of a very dear friend of mine. The truncated version of events is as follows. I have known my friend for around seven years, and it seems that for approximately the last five of those, she has been incessantly and systematically bullied by her manager at work. It also seems that a couple of other people have stuck the knives in as well; if you’ll pardon the expression. The culmination of all this, is that roughly two months ago she phoned me on a Saturday evening in a bit of a state, and asked if she could come round. She arrived at around 7.45pm and did not leave until 3.45am. Seven hours of being absolutely in bits, pouring her heart out and telling me that it has got to the stage where she no longer wants to wake up in the morning. Finally, a couple of weeks back she resigned; having managed to find a suitable similar position with another employer. The situation has not been helped by her being in an abusive relationship with a man who also works for the same company, and who has seemingly (to an extent) been in cahoots with her tormentors. She managed to end the relationship around the same time she came to my house and poured her heart out; but she has since gone back to him. Phew!!!

So, what has all this got to do with carts and horses?

Nothing really, but I thought it would make a great analogy. If we think of the horse as the Self and the cart as a self-created burden (ego), it illustrates aptly how we as a species cause ourselves so much pain and suffering, simply by the fact that we have forgotten who we are. I can relate so much to my friend’s story because it is very similar to my own. As you can probably guess, I have tried my best to offer guidance, but my friend’s tunnel vision and “tumble dryer” mind are adamant they are not going to listen.

We blame external circumstances and other people (the cart), for the way we feel emotionally (the horse). However, the reality is that our external circumstances are a mirror of what’s going on inside us, and all too often we project our past experiences onto the present moment; thus creating our pain and misery. We forget that no other person is responsible for the way we feel. This is something I learned the hard way; which brings me onto forgiveness.

It will help us greatly if we can look at forgiveness from a different angle than we are used to. We tend to think that being forgiving means that we accept other people’s seemingly unfair behaviour towards us, or that we have to be tolerant of selfish or unreasonable behaviour. But forgiveness is the understanding that no one but our self is responsible for the way we feel. When something arises, we form a judgement based on past experience and project it onto the present moment. This produces an emotion, which we then “out-picture” as our reality, whilst at the same time remaining oblivious that we are creating this reality.

This concept is extremely difficult to grasp when you are experiencing the pain that my friend is currently experiencing. But the universe works in a very precise manner, and as I found out, once I accepted that I held the key, things started to change.

The horse gets by very well on its own; it doesn’t need the cart. But as long as we believe that things outside us are responsible for the way we feel inside, then the cart of ego will continue to torment us.

My dear friend, my heart goes out to you…

PS I’m now off to the Scottish Highlands, so I’ve posted a couple of pics here for your enjoyment. I hope to have some more for you on my return.

I had a bit of a pondering today whilst listening to a very profound extract of a Rupert Spira video. It goes without saying, especially in relation to my earlier life, that watching such videos and reading spiritual books is very valuable in helping us to see the light in this crazy world. But the more I take in from such media, the more I realise that I never needed the media in the first place. It’s an old chestnut, but it really is just like being an actor in the theatre who takes on the persona of their character, and when the curtain comes down the actor realises that they are in fact, someone completely different.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my experience today was like a very proficient swimmer diving into a swimming pool, but they decide to wear a rubber ring anyway; just in case.

I really love having Eureka moments. I think today’s can be summed up thus; all the knowledge that we gain from books etc. is already contained within us. All we have to do is allow ourselves to Be. In doing so we are allowing the higher power to work through us on a “horses for courses” basis. So, whatever we need in any given moment, by way of knowledge, will simply bubble up from the soul.

But, having said that, I can’t deny that I do love the process of actively seeking…

Those of you who followed my story of personal evolution, will know that I come from a working-class background; and indeed, you may have deduced that I am proud of my roots and would not swap my life for anything. My politics have always been very left; simply because I have always detested bigotry and prejudice of any kind. In the UK (I can’t speak for any other country) we still have a ridiculous class-system that should have been confined to the rubbish bin centuries ago. Indeed, the gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” seems to be growing wider by the second. Also, unless you have been living in your own bubble this last few weeks, you will be aware that the UK had a visit from a certain POTUS recently, that caused a stir, to say the least.

These days I try very hard to look at things from the bigger spiritual perspective, although I must admit, that if I see something on social media that appeals greatly to the old me, I can’t resist the odd retweet or repost here and there. So, what is the bigger spiritual perspective when it comes to the murky world of politics?

Well, I’m sure it may mean different things to different people, but what it means to me is this. Everything in this illusory world only exists in relationship to its relative opposite; in fact, if it ain’t got a relative opposite it don’t exist! To take that a step further, you can only experience or express something in this world if it has a relative opposite. Without grief there would be no joy, without the bitter there would be no sweet; the list is endless. So, the implications are that when you express something, a political view for example, you are actually helping to endorse its polar opposite. The left can only exist because of the right, and vice-versa.

We must also remember that old chestnut, “as without, so within”. So, when the circus comes to town, as it recently did in the UK, what we are seeing, and in our case what the majority of people ridiculed, was only a reflection of what is going on within ourselves at some level of our being. Making that statement doesn’t mean that I agree with the person in question’s views. But, what I am saying is that right and wrong are only relative in relationship to each other, and are concepts constructed by the mind about a certain thing. It is also worth bearing in mind that nothing can happen unless the collective consciousness of our species wills it so.

So, what’s the answer? Once again, this is just my personal point of view. First of all, scroll up and read my opening paragraph again. Did it seem quite negative in parts? My use of the word “detest”, for example? Even though I only wrote that paragraph from the perspective of my actual experiences in my own country, there was a hint of aggression in there; and the left are supposed to be the good guys! (There I go again). I honestly believe that the answer to this conundrum is in my good friend, Zen. Zen is a state of Being; or pure Consciousness.

There is no relativity in Consciousness, and Consciousness is our true nature; therefore there is ultimately no left or right, no right and wrong etc. So, whoever you are and wherever you find yourself at any given time, simply act from the perspective of Consciousness, to the best of your ability, and be an example; a shining light, to others. That is all any of us can do really. Once we understand that the world and all its shenanigans are simply the crazy construction of our own minds, we can go about helping to reduce its craziness.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record I want to finish by using an old Zen saying that I’ve used many times before. “Be as a hollow bamboo”. In other words, don’t “do”, don’t be left or right, right or wrong; just be as a hollow bamboo and allow the higher power to work through you. Allow magic to work through you; indeed, allow yourself and the example you set to those around you to be magical.

Indeed; what now? I’m really glad that Eyesight To The Blind is out there in paperback form, and the kindle version will launch some time later this month. But I appear to have entered a flat phase and am continually asking myself, what now? This really is a weird time of transition for me, I’m no longer working as a medium, my day job is stale and way past its sell-by date, my writing project has finished, so yes, to say I’m feeling quite flat at the moment would be an understatement.

I wanted to write a post last week, but “what to write”? I thought to myself. Anyway, the most important thing is to be in communication, so I thought I would share three quite different and random things with you. Two that came along recently and one from around 18 years ago.

Firstly, and I can’t quite believe that I’ve never written about this before; anywhere! I’m going to share with you the one and only experience I’ve ever had of spirit manifesting itself objectively; in other words, right before my eyes and not on the inner plain. I think the reason I’ve never written about this before is because it has simply slipped my mind. It’s also not something that I would attach a lot of importance to these days, but it was very interesting at the time and I’m sure some of you will also find it quite interesting.

It happened round about 1999/2000. It was when I was going to the open circle at the spiritualist church. A man named Tom would quite often take the sessions in those early days. We were sitting there in our circle, not in the dark but with the room dimly lit, and all of a sudden as I was looking at Tom, slightly behind him and to his left, there was a build up of spirit; literally. The image of a man I believed to be Tom’s dad literally built up from the floor until it was a full manifestation. He looked elderly and he had a briar pipe in his mouth. The manifestation was not pure white, as you would probably imagine, but a very faint blue. The image remained for a few moments and then disappeared.

The second thing I want to share with you happened very recently; less than two weeks back from the time of writing. I wanted to spend a night away from Tetbury, so I had a look on Airbnb and saw a nice cheap room with en suite facilities. I then realised that it was in a town called Highworth, which I knew quite well from my time living in Swindon, as they are in close proximity to each other. I booked, and to my pleasure, the hosts turned out to be a lovely couple; she being a yoga teacher and he being an extremely learned and well-read man who worked as a creative writing tutor. They were both very interesting to talk to.

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will probably have realised that I don’t have a very high opinion of the church, and even though I do not accept the Biblical version of Christ, I do actually embrace the concept of a man who was called Jesus Christ and who walked the earth more than 2000 years ago. However, my view of who he was differs drastically from the story pedaled by the church. My male host, I will call him Peter, during a discussion said that there is no evidence anywhere, and there never has been, that Christ even existed. I knew I was not as well-informed as him so I did not contest his view; instead, I listened intently. Then he said something else, that was so obviously true, that it had never occurred to me before.

I’ve always felt that there is very little truth in the Bible, but Peter said something that gave me a bit of a eureka moment. He said that there is only one passage in the Bible that has any significance; the rest you can just throw away. That passage is in Exodus 3:14 where Moses asks God what he should say if, when he goes to the Israelites, they ask him the name of, “the God of their forefathers”, who sent him. He gets the reply, “I AM, that is who I am”. That statement, “I AM, that is who I am”, must surely be the most profoundly true and powerful statement in the entire history of history itself. That seven-word statement tells us everything we would ever want and need to know about that great and old chestnut; the meaning of life.

No beginning; no end. No birth; no death. The all and everything summed up right there and then in one seven-word statement. You are already that which you seek. Spiritual awakening is the realisation that you are already awake. I could go on, but I won’t; thanks Peter!

Thirdly, after stating in Eyesight To The Blind, that my out-of-body experiences are very few and far between these days, what happens? Yes, I not only have an astral adventure, but quite a humdinger too! There was a hell of a lot going on; it was like three different stories playing out during the course of my journey. I’m sure it all had some sort of meaning, but unless I experience something truly spectacular these days, I will not be going into detail anymore; simply because I no longer see the relevance. I just found it quite ironic, that after making that statement in the book, quite a detailed out-of-body experience followed during the early morning of July 5.

I’m now nearing the completion of my manuscript. 21 chapters written, but just a few little additions before the book is finished. Here is another little snippet to whet your appetite!

I think the utter craziness of my life can be summed up via the events of the two trips to Copenhagen I made back in 2004. It first came about because I was working one night at a spiritualist church in Oxfordshire; this was during July 2003 before I moved to Wales. There was a Danish lady, Annie, in the congregation whose company had an office in Oxford and she was temporarily assigned to that office. She approached me after the event and asked if I could go to her house and do some private work. We arranged a date, and one Saturday morning I ventured over to Oxford. We ended up doing meditation and healing, as well as the private reading. She asked if I could do the same for a friend who would be visiting, and we arranged that I would go back within the coming weeks. The ladies explained that they had engaged the services, on many occasions, of a lady medium from England to go to Copenhagen and carry out private readings etc. At the time this sort of thing wasn’t very common in Denmark. They went on to explain that the lady was now getting older and she found it quite difficult to make the trip, so would I be interested in going. I didn’t need asking twice, and it was arranged that I would go to Copenhagen during the first week of March 2004; you may recall my snow shenanigans? Well, I made the second journey roughly six weeks later. Annie was back in Denmark by this time and I stayed in the basement flat of her amazing house for the duration of both trips.

The crazy thing was that I was just a bloke who was technically homeless (I had to leave the Court of Circles and at this point there was no caravan in place at Keith’s mum and step-dad’s place) and I virtually didn’t have a bean to my name. Many of my clients in Copenhagen however, lived in a world that I could only dream of. One man owned a management training company and a publishing company. Annie’s friend, who I did the reading for, had some sort of high-powered job and another lady was a director of one of the largest recruitment consultancies in Denmark. During a break in the workshop I ran during my first trip, I was chatting to a lady who casually informed me that she was a lawyer at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, and her day job was as a lobbyist at the Court of Human Rights AND, she had come home specially for the weekend so that she could attend my workshop with her mother. Annie herself was a director of a big company and has extensive experience in clinical Oncology. She has since changed jobs, but to give you an idea of the kind of work she does, during my second trip, she got up one morning at “silly o’clock”, drove to Copenhagen Airport and caught a flight to London Heathrow. She then got a taxi to Oxford and attended a two-hour meeting; after which, she took a taxi back to Heathrow and caught a flight to Copenhagen. She got back home at 11:00pm that night; and these people were coming to ME for guidance? You most certainly couldn’t make it up. To quote Madness, it was..well.. “Madness”.

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